


She Brought Back the Light

by C1ashi1dr



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 13 adopts Oppy, Alternate Universe, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Tags May Change, That's it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26031907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C1ashi1dr/pseuds/C1ashi1dr
Summary: "She watched the Fam exchange confused looks, barely able to disguise her glee. It had been worth all the late night research, the hours of pouring over internet articles from all across time and space (well, mostly from the early 21st century, but the point stood) all for the purpose of putting this trip together. The TARDIS had helped, allowing the Doctor to make some quick adjustments to refine the landing date. It was going to be brilliant."Or:The Oppy AU
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Oppy, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> It took forever, but the fabled Oppy AU is finally here. I did a good amount of research on the Opportunity Rover but I am by no means and expert on it or Mars, so there are probably a few inaccuracies. Not beta'd

“Where are we off to today, Doctor?” Yaz asked, leaning against the railing around the console room. The rest of the Fam were scattered about, Ryan up near the controls, not quite touching them (the Doctor could see the look in his eyes, the urge to reach out but she knew he wouldn’t) and Graham sitting on the steps, still half asleep. 

She’d not woken them up early, per say, but the TARDIS had been known to pick up on her emotions and may have woken them up a bit earlier than they should have been. Ryan and Yaz had only sipped some tea and taken a bit to wake up. Graham was still in the midst of the latter process, his favorite brown jacket hanging off his shoulders as he rested his head against his knees.

“I had a bit of a special trip in mind, if you lot are up for it,” the Doctor said, leaning against the console with a challenging grin. She’d been up all night, tinkering with the TARDIS to optimize the dematerialization circuit. And thinking. Mostly thinking, if she were to be honest, as an idea had taken her in the middle of her work. It hadn’t left since the morning, when the Fam had dragged themselves out of bed while she made them all a cuppa, brimming with excitement. 

“We’re always up for it, Doc,” Ryan said, fiddling with a bit of loose wiring that was sticking out of the console. She shot him a look and he backed away, flushing a bit. Some things never changed, no matter how much she warned him about it. “You always make whatever trips we take interesting.”

The Doctor preened a bit under the praise. While putting her Fam in danger was never her intention, it happened with alarming frequency and their excitement almost never waned. When it did, someone would tell her (usually Graham) and she backed off, gave them as much space as she could. 

“How about something a little closer to home? Some _ where _ to be exact,” the Doctor asked, already bouncing on the balls of her feet and reaching for the controls.  _ That _ got the Fam’s attention and they all looked at her. Graham got to his feet and fully faced the console, eyes still a bit unfocused. He was paying attention though, she could see it in the way his back straightened a bit.

“Y’mean somewhere in England?” Yaz asked after it was clear the Doctor wouldn’t reveal anymore information. “Or do y’mean somewhere near our time?”

“Is this another one of your schemes, Doc?” Graham asked, narrowing his eyes a bit at her. She shot him a mischievous, over exaggerated wink.

“Depends on what you mean by near, Yaz.” The Doctor replied. “An’ I never have any schemes, Graham, just a few mishaps that tend to snowball a bit along the way. Not a schemer, me.” She finished the little ramble with a flourish of her hand, and, when the confused silence stretched for a few moments too long, she beamed. “Right, you lot. Fancy a quick trip to Mars? See the sights, be the first modern humans to set foot on Mars?”

“Mars?” Yaz asked. “Doesn’t that seem a little...well, it doesn’t seem like something you’d like to do. There’s not much on Mars, is there?” She glanced at Ryan and Graham, silently asking for support. “Not stuff that we haven’t already seen before, on other planets? You musta been there once or twice at the very least.” She leaned against one of the pillars surrounding the console, hands in her back pockets.

“Hang on, first  _ modern  _ humans?” Ryan interjected, looking at her. “What d’ya mean by that?”

“There was an adventure I had a while back, nothing really big, just a roundabout trip to Mars. Found some Victorian gentlemen there, they’d claimed it for England and everything. Very strange situation, but that’s not really important.”

“So there might be some dead victorian guys there?” Yaz asked. “I still don’t know why we’d want to go there, especially if you’ve been there before. Isn’t that a big no in time travel?”

“Oh there are plenty of things on Mars,” the Doctor said. “Depends on where-er, when you go. There are ice warriors, whole thriving civilizations. But when I said close to home, I did mean close to home, in both space and time.”

She watched the Fam exchange confused looks, barely able to disguise her glee. It had been worth all the late night research, the hours of pouring over internet articles from all across time and space (well, mostly from the early 21st century, but the point stood) all for the purpose of putting this trip together. The TARDIS had helped, allowing the Doctor to make some quick adjustments to refine the landing date. It was going to be brilliant.

“Right you lot, we’re headed to Mars,” The Doctor said. “And I’ve got a great surprise for all of you, seeing as you haven’t figured it out yet.” She grinned and started bounding around the console.

She may have had a bit more energy than usual, moving as fast as her legs could take her, but it wasn’t without reason. As much as she claimed that the trip was for the Fam, she was just as excited to go. The looks on their faces...she couldn’t wait to see how they reacted.

As the Doctor rushed about as she often did, flipping switches, the Fam reached out to grab a hold of something. The ride was bumpy (it often was) but as opposed to many of the other times they were traveling, the TARDIS seemed fairly subdued. No one was tossed about, and, in fact, Yaz was even able to let go of the pillar she’d been clinging to in order to get a better grip on it. She’d not gone flying and that itself was far stranger than anything that had happened all morning.

When the TARDIS finally settled with a heaving groan and a reassuring pat from the Doctor on the center column, the Time Lord spun around to face the small gaggle of humans that were pulling away from their supports. She propped her hands on her hips and looked over each of them thoughtfully.

“Right you lot, best we get you kitted out. Mars can be a tricky place depending on when you land, but I’ve got us at the time where you need helmets and suits and the like.” They grumbled for a second but let the Doctor rush off to the wardrobe room. She knew they would probably talk about why they were even on the red planet, but her plan was unfolding exactly as she had expected it to. She was the Doctor, after all, she always had a plan.

It was only moments later that she came running back with a heap of suits draped over her arm, almost enough to completely hide her face from the rest of the fam. There was a short chuckle from her right, one that sounded suspiciously like Yaz, but the Doctor let it go, stumbling up the steps to the console before she dumped the suits on the ground, near the Fam's feet. They looked down briefly before glancing up at her.

"Alright, Fam, find one that fits and get changed. I don't want any of you to get hurt while being out in the Martian air. Wouldn't be good for ya," She grinned, sifting through the suits herself. "Unfortunately, the TARDIS can't extend the little bubble of life support she maintains. I dunno if she ever could, but I've been working on getting it to go further. There's still a lot of work to do."

"It's alright, Doctor," Ryan said, pulling up different space suits, frowning slightly. "When are these from?"

"Your future, probably," She said. "Not quite sure when I got all of these. They just sorta...show up in the wardrobe room. I never ask where the old girl gets her clothes." Even as she was struggling into her suit, the Doctor reached over and patted the console gently. "All I know is I'm always grateful for them. Between her and the clothes that have been left behind by the others, there are enough to last me all my lifetimes." Finally, she got the suit up and over her shoulders and she turned around. "How do I look?"

"Completely daft," Yaz said, considering her with a tilted head. "Definitely suits you."

"Thanks, Yaz!" The Doctor bounced on her feet, looking between the three of them. The space suits they'd all chosen were completely different from each other (and from the Doctor's) and came from a vast array of eras. She recognized the one Yaz was wearing as a slightly larger version of the one that Clara had been wearing, and Ryan's was a smartsuit. The Doctor gave a quick frown at the console when she recognized the thing, but the TARDIS gave a little beep, a warning. All three of them looked like they were space ready, so the Doctor motioned to the door. 

"Are you lot ready to see Mars?" She asked excitedly. "I know I am."

"You've been here before," Yaz pointed out again.

"But not with my Fam," the Doctor said. "And not for this reason."

"And what reason is that?" Graham asked. "I for one would like to know what we're getting into before we leave the TARDIS.

"Don't worry," the Doctor said. "A perfectly good reason, trust me, you'll love it." With that, she shoved the doors open and led the fam out into the Martian landscape. They looked around, eyes squinted as the sun beat down on the red planet, but the Doctor was already moving forward, grabbing the hand closest to her and dragging whoever it was further away from the TARDIS. 

She pulled and pulled until they’d reached the top of a small valley, standing on the edge as the Doctor leaned over to squint against the shine of the suns. Superior alien physiology she might have, but she certainly didn’t have any effective way of blocking out the sun. She needed to scout, however, she had to know exactly where she was going. And by the time she’d figured it all out, the rest of the Fam were wandering up behind her.

She glanced down at the hand in hers and looked back up at Ryan, grinned at him and then waited a bit more for Graham to catch his breath.

“Alright you lot, we’re gonna go into this little valley and walk a ways and then we’ll get to exactly what I wanted you to see. Oh, you're gonna be so excited. Are you excited?” She whirled about and looked back at Graham and Yaz, the former of whom was standing doubled over, breathing heavily. She took pity on him and patted him on the back, her hand stirring up a bit of the dust that had settled on the man’s space suit. 

“I’d be a bit more excited if you would tell us where we’re going,” Yaz said after a few seconds. “Just so we know what to expect.”

“Nah, too easy. You’ve got to be able to figure all of this out or at least take a guess. You haven't made one guess this entire time, how am I supposed to take it all seriously?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Time to go, let’s get moving. Plenty of things to look at while we’re on our journey and we don’t have time. Don’t want to be out here when the sun goes down, it won’t be very comfy and I happen to be very fond of the three of you.”

She tugged on Ryan’s hand and they made their descent into the valley, moving across the red planet with surprising speed. She kept her focus in the distance, on their destination while, at one point, Ryan slowed enough to walk with the rest of the Fam. Once more, it was the Doctor at the front of the group, leading the charge into the unknown of a different planet. 

It was another few hours of walking, with the Fam occasionally complaining about aching legs or the weight of the suits or really anything they could complain about. The Doctor pressed forward, however, pulling out her sonic the closer they got. She needed to get a pinpoint on the exact location of their target or the Fam would have even more to complain about.

Finally, guided by the readings from the sonic, the Doctor held up a hand to stop the Fam from walking into her back when she stopped.

“Alright, we’re here,” she said. “Yaz, Ryan, can you give me a hand?”

“With what?”

“We’re gonna dig up the Opportunity Rover,” the Doctor exclaimed, clapping her hands together. It wasn’t as effective or easy as it was when she wasn’t wearing a bulky space suit but it got her excitement across. “Been meaning to come out here and do and I figured, what better time than with the Fam?”

“Doesn’t the rover belong to NASA?” Yaz asked. “Wouldn’t that be stealing?”

“It’s not sending data back anymore, Yaz,” the Doctor said. “Just a robot with a dead battery at the moment.”

“So we’re gonna talk it back to Earth, right?” Ryan asked, moving around to the Doctor’s right side, peering over her shoulder to where she’d focused her gaze. “So they can get it back up and running?”

“Of course not,” the Doctor said, shaking her head. “Listen, we’re taking Opportunity back to the TARDIS and we’re going to fix it up.” 

“Then we take it back?”

“We’ll see,” The Doctor said, having absolutely no intention of doing anything of the sort. “Now give me a hand, I can’t unbury this thing by myself.” She knelt on the ground in front of her and started shifting the red dirt away from where her sonic had identified the rover. Yaz quickly dropped to her knees next to her, offering a grin before she moved to copy the motions. Ryan was the last to join, but he added enough hands to start brushing the last of the dirt off the rover.

The Doctor sat back on her haunches, looking up at the robot with the largest grin on her face. She dusted it off a bit more, swiping the side paneling clean with her gloves. The stalk that held the eyes looked a little bent, but she was sure she could straighten it out, as well as repair the bits and pieces that had come off.

“Didja know, Opportunity wasn’t supposed to be working for as long as it was? NASA sent it up with the intention of a 90 day mission, and it lasted for over 15 years up here. Definitely the meaning of Perseverance. I bet that's why they named the next one that." She rambled as she continued to dust off the rest of the rover, moving slowly and methodically. After a few moments, Ryan and Yaz got up and stepped back to where Graham was, only looking back at her when she stood up and dusted off her pants.

"Time to get it back to the TARDIS?" Yaz asked.

“Yup,” the Doctor said. “I figure we just push it back. With three of us working together, it shouldn’t be too hard. Once we get over the ridge it’ll be smooth sailing.”

“Can’t you just boot it back up and drive it back to the TARDIS?” Yaz asked as she took up position behind the rover, leaning against the side of it for a moment.

“I could, but where would the fun in that be?” the Doctor asked. “I can just carry it if you lot aren’t up for it.”

Yaz and Ryan exchanged looks over the back of the rover before Ryan shook his head. It wasn't worth the risk of the Doctor hurting herself. Despite everything they’d been through, the Doctor dragging a fairly large robot across the surface of Mars, even with its wheels, would be a horrible idea. 

“It’s alright,” he said. “We’ll give you a hand. What else are we here for?”

“That’s the spirit!” The Doctor said. “On my count, push! One...two...three!”

It took a moment for them to find traction, but once they got moving it was easier. Still, after a few minutes of pushing the rover up over the edge of the valley and back out into the rest of the martian landscape, Yaz knew the Doctor wouldn’t have been able to pick it up if she’d had the opportunity. The Doctor stood at the front of the rover, pulling and guiding them through the rough terrain while Graham walked ahead to make sure they didn’t run into anything that would cause more damage to the rover.

By the time they got back to the TARDIS, Yaz and Ryan were breathing heavily and barely able to put more than a bit of push behind the rover while the Doctor continued pulling it through the doors. When they got through and the rover was securely in the TARDIS, Yaz and Ryan sat on the floor, panting as the Doctor took the full weight and made it the final distance to the console. A few moments later, there was a click and a gentle whir. The Doctor was crouched in front of the rover, looking at the dual cameras that looked almost like eyes. 

“Welcome back to the world, Oppy,” the Doctor said brightly. “I’m the Doctor and I’ll be doing some repairs on ya.” 

“Doc, I don’t think-” Graham’s objection was interrupted but a series of tones as the cameras turned to take in its surroundings.

“I think we’re gonna be really good friends,” the Doctor said, patting it on the head. Then she looked back at the humans gathered near the front of the TARDIS, a gleam in her eyes. “Ryan, could ya get me my tool pouch?” 


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor starts the extensive repairs on Oppy and Ryan lends her a hand

Ryan returned with her pouch fairly quickly, coming back within a few minutes of her request. In the time he was gone, the Doctor had already dug out her welding mask and a few other baubles from the TARDIS, things to replace the battery, strips of metal, and various cleaning supplies. She was already sitting cross legged in front of the rover, staring into its eyes with something akin to adoration. 

“Thanks,” she said absently when Ryan gently set her tool pouch on the ground next to her, the Doctor already absorbed in cleaning bits of dust from Oppy’s lenses. “You lot can go get some rest, I know the trip was a bit rough on you physically. ‘Specially you, Ryan and Yaz.” She waved behind her back at them, barely hearing their answer as she continued to slowly clean the red dirt from Oppy’s exterior. 

It wasn’t that she wasn’t concerned for the humans. She definitely was, they’d had a bit of a struggle getting Oppy through the doors. It was pretty big for a rover, and for all of the wonders of the TARDIS, her doors were fairly small, even when both were thrown wide open. It had taken a series of pushes and pulls as well as carefully removing some of the solar panels from Oppy before they could tip it onto its side and slide it in. She definitely should have carried it, but the past was the past and they’d managed to get Oppy into the TARDIS and that was enough for her. 

“We’re gonna go watch a movie, Doc,” Graham said. “You’ll shout if you need anything, right? Anything at all?”

“Course,” The Doctor said absently, rubbing at a particularly dirty spot, frowning when the dirt didn’t come off. “Watch your movie and get some sleep. You’ll need to be ready bright and early tomorrow, I want our first adventure with Oppy to be properly good. Has to be worthy of this whole trip after all.”

“We’ll be here, Doctor,” Yaz said. “Just don’t work too late on that thing, you need some rest too, even if it’s just staring at the ceiling for a little while.”

“Course,” the Doctor said and then they were gone, trailing out of the console room as the Doctor slowly worked her way around the rover. It didn’t show any signs of being awake other than the slight hum under the metal plating that the Doctor was cleaning. The shutters clicked a couple times and the Doctor briefly wondered if it was sending information back to NASA but now, the TARDIS would block the signal if that were the case. She might have been miffed about the idea (she wasn’t fond of competition, not after so long) but she wouldn’t willingly attract danger to them. Or the Doctor hoped that she wouldn’t at the very least.

“You’d better behave yourself,” the Doctor muttered to the console behind her, wincing as the TARDIS spat a few sparks at her for...for whatever reason. “Oi, don’t get cross at me. You let Oppy in here, you knew my plans before we even left. If you were gonna be unhappy about it, you should have told me.” The TARDIS beeped again, indignant and the Doctor shrugged, returning her full attention to the rover.

The Doctor didn't know how long she worked on the rover, cleaning and making a few brief repairs, fixing wires and such. There were extensive repairs she needed to make, and a few improvements that she’d started mentally drafting, but those could wait until she’d dusted Oppy off and gotten the more pressing matters taken care of. Namely the battery. Though she’d managed to kickstart its battery, the moment she disconnected it from the TARDIS, there was no assurance that Oppy would stay functional, let alone have enough charge to perform any of the functions the Doctor would eventually want out of it. The Doctor wasn't looking specifically for purpose in the rover, but she wanted it to be able to move around the TARDIS, interact with the things in there, interact with her and with the Fam, really anything that it could do. 

So, once she'd gotten a few of the wires put back in place, optimized some of the circuits with a bit of non-human tech, she pulled on a few gloves and tugged her goggles over her eyes, fully set on digging those lithium batteries out if she had the chance. She never got around to it, however, as a crash from behind her interrupted her before she could shove her hands into the casing. The Doctor stumbled to her feet, urging Oppy to stay where it was for the time being while she investigated the source of the sound.

A muffled curse gave it away immediately.

"Ryan, thought you would be with Graham and Yaz and your movie. Said you were tired and all," she said. She wasn't unhappy to see him, quite the opposite, but the surprise at seeing him laying face first on the grating of the TARDIS floor was a bit concerning.

"They finished with the movie ages ago," Ryan said. "Graham went to bed immediately and Yaz left for the library and I sat playing video games for a good while but I were getting bored. Thought I'd check up on you and your rover."

"Our rover, Ryan," the Doctor corrected immediately. "Oppy's part of the fam, a member of the team. Not just some little trinket." 

"Your repairs, Doctor. How's everything going?"

"Great!" the Doctor said brightly. "The TARDIS is helping me out and everything. Well, after I had tot ell her off for being so jealous, which isn't even my fault. It's not like she stopped me when I told her my plans, which she knew from the very beginni-sorry, am I rambling?"

"Just a bit," Ryan said. "What's with the gloves and goggles? Were you gonna get some welding in?"

"Oh no," the Doctor said. "Were saving that bit for later. Just trying to get the batteries out of the casing, didn't want to damage them anymore than they already are. I'm hoping I can fix them up and, if not, get a whole new set in. Probably the latter if I’m honest, "

Ryan paused for a second there, even as the Doctor retreated back to the rover to slot the batteries in. She'd just about gotten them ready to slide in when Ryan cleared his throat. The Doctor fumbled for a second, nearly dropping them before one slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground. With a groan, the Doctor looked back at Ryan.

"Can I lend a hand?"

"If you can stop making me drop the batteries," The Doctor teased, though Ryan's crestfallen look had her backtracking immediately. "And there's a few of the solar panels that I haven't looked at. Need to see if there's any cracks or the batteries won't be able to charge."

"You mean it?"

"Properly," The Doctor said. "Would never joke about this Ryan, this is very serious stuff. Just get some gloves and some safety goggles and you'll be ready to go." She gestured vaguely over her shoulder to one of the many boxes strewn about the floor as she'd worked for apparent hours. 

Ryan nearly tripped over his feet to get to the box the Doctor had motioned to and the Doctor waited until he'd sat down by her side to explain her process for going through the solar panels, feeling herself growing more and more excited as she went. Ryan followed along with every word that she said, nodding enthusiastically and interjecting with questions.

"See, we've gotta be able to charge the battery. If not, the whole thing's dead, and we'd never be able to get Oppy more than a few feet away from the console. I know I wouldn't want that, I know the TARDIS definitely doesn't want that." A beep from the center column gave voice to the TARDIS's support of that statement. "And I'm pretty sure Oppy wants to be able to move around freely. So we're gonna make sure nothing's cracked, I'm changing the batteries, and I'll throw in a little non-human tech to make them even better than before."

"You're making it proper functional," Ryan said, and the awe in his voice was apparent. The Doctor's chest warmed as she beamed with pride, looking down at the Rover. "Are you gonna give it an AI?"

"Maybe a low level one," the Doctor said. "Don't want it to be too powerful, after all. Could decide to destroy the whole human race and then where would you lot be?"

"You'd save us," Ryan said with a shrug and the Doctor's lungs squeezed briefly. "You always save us. You're like a real, proper superhero."

"I'm just a traveller, Ryan," the Doctor murmured. "Doing what I can to help people, but I’m nothing special.”

She could feel Ryan tense, as if about to launch into an impassioned speech about her, but she pointedly turned her attention back to the batteries she was wiring up. Guilt blossomed in her chest the longer the silence went on. She’d not meant to discourage him, but anyone talking about her like she was some sort of hero made her...feel wrong. It wasn't right, she'd never been a hero of any sort. Someone always slipped through her grasp, someone always died or got hurt and no matter how hard she tried, she'd never been able to stop it from happening-

Ryan's warm hand against her shoulder snapped her out of her quickly spiralling thoughts. The concern in his gaze was enough to turn her back to her work on Oppy, grimacing to herself at the sudden flood of emotions moving through her. He retracted his hand a few seconds later and she could feel his gaze burning into the side of her head for a few minutes before she set him onto another task.

"Where would the AI...thing go?" Ryan asked after a few minutes.

"Probably up towards the front or in the back of the casing with the cameras-er, eyes," the Doctor said. "While it would probably be smarter to put it somewhere deep in the wires, to keep it safe, you'd never be able to change it or disable it, not without a lot of work. Sometimes AI chips get outdated or they glitch or sometimes you just want to try out a new style or something like that."

"They've got to be accessible then," Ryan said. "Even if they're a little-"

"Exposed?" the Doctor supplied, rummaging around in one of her tool kits. "Yeah, you need to be able to see them. Well, pull open a panel and see them. It's all in being accessible in the later centuries and it's easier on me. I'll probably be changing out this one's chips pretty regularly. Like to switch it up, me. Never one for constants."

"We never noticed," Ryan said, but there was no bite to his words. They worked in silence for another hour or so, the only words passed between them were instructions, usually from the Doctor. Fetch one tool or another, get the spanner out from under the console, no not that spanner the other one. 

The Doctor took over much of the harder work on the rover, prying out space for the AI chip, wiring up the chip, fiddling with the charging lines to the battery. Anything she could get her hands on was subject to be changed, altered in some way. Optimized, one could say, though a lot of what the Doctor was doing didn't seem to be doing much in terms of how efficiently the rover was running.

Eventually, during a water break, Ryan sat back from his piece of panelling, wiping the sweat from his brow. He fixed his gaze on the Doctor, who was staring off into the distance at...something or another. The screwdriver in her hand clattered to the grating and Ryan cleared his throat, startling her out of her sudden absence.

"Why the rover, then?" Ryan asked, probably hoping to keep her in the present. She glanced over at him, picked up her screwdriver, and stuck her head under Oppy to see if she could work on the axles.

"Had a robot dog when I were a man," the Doctor said by way of an answer. "WEll, a while ago when I were a man. Several of my man mes before this time. Proper robot dog, could roll around on the ground, had a laser, bit of a smart aleck. One of the best dogs I ever had." She fell silent, looking up at the parts in her hands with heavy contemplation. "I suppose I missed it. The unquestioning presence, the constant maintenance, the upgrades."

"So you thought stealing a rover from Mars would be a good idea?" Ryan asked, and she could hear the judgement creeping into his voice. It made her bristle.

"It's not stealing if your lot abandon it, is it?" she asked, and didn't bother to look over at him. "You give up on Mars, about 2100. Decide it's not worth terraforming, that the better use of money is in finding somewhere beyond your solar system. So you leave Mars, drop everything there pretty much. All the rovers, the loyal little robots you sent up there and you just left ‘em-” She cuts herself off by biting her tongue, holding her breath. 

It wasn't Ryan's fault, what the humans did to Oppy. He was a lad from Sheffield, he couldn't possibly be the one responsible for all of it. No use taking out the crimes of the species on a single member, no matter how important she thought he was to the grand scheme of things. Her hands clenched around the screwdriver in her hands, her toes curling in her boots just the slightest bit.

"We just left them?" Ryan asked and she could feel his gaze on her, on Oppy, on her feet sticking out from under Oppy, her precious passion project. She'd never let it go, she promised herself that in that instant. "Up there, to fend for themselves?"

"They couldn't even fend for themselves, Ryan," the Doctor said. "They were meant to be manned, at least back on Earth. They were meant to be guided and you left them without that. They just...sit. And eventually, they're lost to time completely."

"I can't believe that," Ryan said. "We're spending too much time on Mars, too much money. We could never abandon it."

"Ryan," The Doctor said as sternly as she could muster, breathing harshly out her nose. Of all the conversations she wanted to have, of all the things she could explain about the rover, it's fate wasn't one of them. "Please, trust me. Time traveller, remember? I did so much research before we picked Oppy up, before we went to Mars, there's no way I got it wrong. Humans...you aren't terrible, none of you are, but you make poor decision time after time and it's those like Oppy that get the brunt of the consequences"

"I would never leave Oppy anywhere, you know that, right?" Ryan asked, running his fingers along the panelling he'd just put back up. He grinned. "Part of the team now, isn't he? One of the Fam."

He turned the conversation then, but the Doctor didn't appear out from under the rover until he'd fallen silent for a good amount of time. Even then, she fiddled with the tires before sliding out from under him, noting Ryan slumped against the floor, holding a rag in one hand, one of the panels in the other. With care not to wake him, the Doctor fetched a blanket and laid it over him, smiling as he grunted and rolled over, curling further into it. 

"He needed sleep, I reckon," the Doctor said. "Wouldn't have fallen asleep otherwise." She shook her head fondly and turned back to Oppy, her hands braced on her hips. The head swivelled about to make eye contact with her and the Doctor smiled and waved, reaching out to pat the top of the camera case. 

"I think you and I are going to have a good amount of fun before he wakes up. If I can finish your repairs before then, I promise I'll take you out for a proper tour of the TARDIS. I know you'll love it." 

There was a brief beep from Oppy and a whir and the Doctor grinned, patting him on the head once more before sitting cross-legged in front of the panel in Ryan’s hand, ready to finish dusting it off. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Doctor was giving Oppy the tour of the console room when Ryan woke up, and she barely had time to pull the rover back before it ran over him. He grunted as the front wheel bumped against his side and glanced over at Oppy, blinking a few times.

“You got him working, then? Proper working?” He asked, looking the rover up and down. There weren’t any scratches in the paneling, and the Doctor had added a few more things, namely two small arms that stuck out from the side of the casing, with small digits attached to the end.

“Proper working and then some, Ryan,” The Doctor said. “Gave Oppy here an upgrade. The least I could do after knowing what happens in the future.”

Oppy beeped a few more times and the Doctor laughed, patting its head. Ryan looked between the two of them, questioni on the tip of his tongue before he decided better of it. The Doctor always got off on tangents and if she could understand the rover, all the better for her. Ryan curled the blanket a bit tighter about his shoulders, sitting up as he looked over Oppy.

“Looks great, Doc,” Ryan said. “Giving it the tour?”

“Of course, Ryan,” The Doctor said with an indignant scoff. “This is one of the finest robots I’ve ever repaired, let alone built for.” The TARDIS whirred and the Doctor turned about with a sheepish shrug. “You don’t count, Old Girl, you’re the best ship in the universe, even without my repairs.”

“Sweet talker,” Ryan said with a smirk.

“Always.” the Doctor said. “Now we’ve gotta show Oppy to the rest of the Fam. Oh you’re gonna love them.” She turned her attention to the rover, all beaming smiles. “It’ll probably take Yaz a little while to warm up to you but once she does you’ll be a proper member of the Fam.”

Before anyone could say another word, Ryan, or the TARDIS, the Doctor was off down the corridor, Oppy trailing behind her beeping as he went. Ryan watched them go with a shake of his head. 


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor decides Oppy is ready for a field test and ends up catching the eye of a few old acquaintances.

“Alright, mate,” the Doctor said as she knelt down next to the robot which beeped quietly, camera stalk turning to face her. “The Fam are worried there are going to be a few problems if you join us straight out of the gate so! We’re gonna take your new equipment from a bit of a test run.” Oppy stared blankly at her even as she got to her feet and gave the rover a pat on the top of its camera casing.

The Doctor dashed about the console, talking as she went. Even if there were no humans on board (currently, she was about to fix that particular problem) it did her good to ramble to the open air and getting Oppy used to language processing was a task in and of itself.

“Don’t worry,” she said, finally setting the TARDIS into motion. The ship rocked under her feet and she grinned. “I’m taking you to Earth. That way we can pick up the Fam and show them you’re ready to join us on adventures!” The TARDIS lurched and nearly sent her flying and the Doctor yelped as her feet nearly slipped out from under her. Oppy whirred and moved forward but she waved a hand. "Got it mate, thanks though! You'll be able to help the Fam once they're  _ finally _ back on board."

They'd left a couple days prior by the Doctor's estimate (time really had no meaning in the vortex, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd had a custard cream) and she'd spent the entire time making sure Oppy was up to whatever adventure they had planned next. Except when she'd told the Fam (their Whatsapp group was chaotic at the best of times, without the Doctor sending pictures of Oppy every couple of minutes) they'd expressed an amount of concern for the robot. 

"A test drive will be perfect," she said to herself, bounding towards the door the moment the TARDIS landed. When she reached them, she glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at Oppy, motioning for them to follow her. "C'mon, they're gonna be so excited to meet you. Ryan in particular, I know he were looking forward to helpin me but some of those installs were a bit dicey and I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if he got hurt, y'know." It had become habit, in her time working on Oppy, to talk to them as if they could reply in more than a series of beeps. She was pretty sure they could understand most of what she was saying (she'd thrown in an AI chip for a bit of fun) but they couldn't really give a reply, not one she could understand. 

The Doctor flung open the doors of the TARDIS and hopped out, looking back to make sure Oppy could make the jump over the ledge. She beamed as they settled on the ground and started towards Yaz's flat. 

"She'll be so happy to see how much progress I've made with your repairs and upgrade," the Doctor said and the responding beep could have only been described as excited. The Doctor liked to think so anyway. "She weren't quite happy with the whole, y'know, taking you from Mars but once she sees how cool y'look she'll be over the moon!"

They made their way up to Yaz's flat, the Doctor taking the stairs three at a time and Oppy taking a service elevator they'd found. The Doctor almost beat the rover up to the top and was doubled over in front of Yaz's door when she finally summoned the strength to give it a knock. Oppy beeped quietly, questioningly and the Doctor waved it off. 

"Should be fine," the Doctor said. "Probably shouldn't have taken those stairs three at a time. Two would have been fine and-"

"Doctor?" Yaz asked. "And Oppy?"

"I finished the repairs!" The Doctor exclaimed, a bit breathless but pushing on nonetheless. "Oppy here is all ready for our next adventure!"

"Doctor, we talked about this I don't think-"

"I'm taking them on a test run of all the equipment today. We're gonna do something here on Earth, with you and Ryan and Graham. I haven't figured out what yet, still workin that one out, but it's gonna be proper awesome." The Doctor gave her best hopeful look, straightening now that she'd finally caught her breath back. Yaz was frowning, however, and that wasn't good. Nothing was good when Yaz frowned like that.

"I've got work today, Doctor," Yaz said. "And I'm sure Ryan and Graham have other things. Come back in a few days?"

"Ugh," the Doctor groaned, leaning back on her heels. "Knew I should have fixed the date. You sure you won't be able to help?"

"Sorry, Doctor," Yaz said. "But I've missed enough days traveling already. Bit on thin ice at the moment." She rubbed the back of her neck and the Doctor must have deflated because Yaz looked a bit guilty. "Come back in a few days, when you're ready to take off into the vortex and I'll be right on board."

"Right." It took a bit of effort but the Doctor managed to inject a bit of enthusiasm into the statement. It didn't do much, judging by the look on Yaz's face but before she could ask the Doctor any more questions, she patted Oppy on the head. "We'll be off then. I'll send you pictures if this field test is a success, which it should be. I'm sure this little guy can do everything I've programmed. Probably a bit more if I'm being honest, I tend to underestimate how far I go with my repairs."

Before Yaz could really reply, the Doctor was off and Oppy was rolling along behind her (she could hear the whir of the motors she'd installed two days prior). She felt a bit bad for leaving Yaz without so much as a goodbye but she'd see her again in a few days and she was probably getting ready for work when the Doctor came, so it was really all in the name of good. 

Back down the stairs she raced, determined to beat Oppy. After almost tripping over her own feet and tumbling face first into the railing, she slowed her pace just slightly and eventually reached the ground floor, where Oppy was patiently waiting for her.

"Alright, don't go getting a big head about it," the Doctor grumbled and the respondent beep could only have been interpreted as smug. "If you keep acting like that we can go back to the TARDIS and I'll do some calibrations. No test run for you." Oppy didn't give a beep after that and the Doctor took that as a good sign that she wasn't going to get anymore backtalk from the rover.

They wandered away from the building of flats, past the TARDIS and, though Oppy beeped in confusion as they passed it (the concept of a test run must not have sunk in that well, she'd have to see what she could do about that). Still, they forged on, moving further into Sheffield while the Doctor rambled about everything and anything she could think of. It was mostly her pondering out loud about what tests they'd have to go through to make sure Oppy was ready for the challenges that being a part of Team TARDIS could entail. 

Finally, they'd wandered to a more industrial area of Sheffield, exactly where the Doctor had hoped they would end up.

"Told you I knew my way around here," she declared proudly. "Most of these warehouses are abandoned right now. Dunno why, but it should give us a good place to test what those upgrades I made to you can do." She beamed down at the rover, moving towards one of the warehouses. 

After about an hour or so of lifting and maneuvering, the Doctor had managed to set up an obstacle course of sorts. Oppy had helped, and the Doctor had been more than a little impressed with how much they'd been able to lift with the arms she and Ryan had added. 

"Alright," she said when they'd finished, admiring the handiwork with a satisfied grin. "You built it so it's not like you aren't sure what the challenges facing you are going to be. We'll throw in some other elements later, but first, you're going to run this course as quickly and precisely as you can. Only rule is no using the small thrusters I added to your casing." She shoved her hands in her pockets and hiked her shoulders up about her ears for a moment. "I don't know how effective they are and they  _ might _ blow your entire casing to bits, but!" She rushed in before the rover could make any kind of condescending beep, "Once i figure out some of the different quirks with them you'll be able to use them."

Oppy beeped to show they understood (or the Doctor hoped that's what that beep meant because that's how she interpreted it) and the Doctor stepped back from what she'd designated as the starting point. Oppy beeped twice before setting off, the motors in their casing whirring. 

The Doctor watched closely as Oppy first made their way up the ramp she'd constructed, and then balancing carefully on the railing she'd laid out. Along it went, motors whirring, beeping happily as it rolled along until it reached the large cinder brick the Doctor had carefully carried all the way to its present location. Oppy regarded it for a long moment, cameras zooming briefly before they set to work, rolling up to the brick and moving it with an ease the Doctor really should have seen coming the moment she knew they could lift as much. 

"We'll have to test that," she said, raising her voice over the rising winds. Oppy beeped at her and moved over the last few obstacles before appearing at her side with a happy beep. 

"Right!" She said happily propping her hands on her hips. "You're doin' great so far, but I'm sure we can bump it up a notch. Give me a hand and then we can get set up-"

"Oi, Doc!" A voice behind her made her jump and the Doctor whirled around to see who was calling for her. She relaxed almost immediately, seeing Graham walking towards her. Oppy beeped at her side and she patted them on the head, walking to greet Graham. "What are you doing out here? Isn't it a bit cold for you?" 

"Hadn't even noticed," the Doctor confessed and Graham pulled his coat closer about his shoulders. "I were just out here with Oppy, I'm making sure they're ready to go on our next adventure." She frowns for a moment, confused. "Thought Yaz said you were busy."

"Yaz is busy, love. I don't have much to do anymore and I thought I'd see if I could find you. She mentioned that you'd landed, and that the TARDIS was still there when she left for work. Said you were in a bit of a rush, and I can see why." Graham looked down at Oppy, who beeped. "Got them up and running alright then?"

"There's a few more things we need to work out," the Doctor said. "But the arms I installed are proper good, Graham. They'll pick up almost anything, or anything that I've picked up from around here anyway." She beamed. "Oppy here is a right talent, managed to work through most of this obstacle course we built here. I'll probably run through some simulations back on the TARDIS. She'll build great things for us, I'm sure of it." 

"Sounds like you've got everything figured out," Graham said and the Doctor was about to agree when she noticed the sadness tinting the edges of his tone. 

"I could use a hand," the Doctor said. "I could always use a hand with things like this, not that Oppy isn't a good assistant or anything." She gave him the best kind of a Doctor grin she could give him and he returned it happily.

"Of course, Doc," Graham said, shrugging off his thicker coat. "Though I have to warn you, I'm not as good as Ryan or Yaz at picking things up and moving them around."

"Don't worry, Graham," the Doctor said, kneeling down behind Oppy to adjust a bolt on one of their arms. "I don't need you to pick a lot of things up and move them around. Well, not really." 

"Then let's get to it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Doctor and Graham worked until the sun started to set and a chill really started to settle over Sheffield. Though the Doctor had denied the cold's ability to affect her, even she was starting to feel the bite of the wind. Oppy's casing was also starting to get pretty cold and, after they'd run through the course dozens and dozens of times, the Doctor finally called it an evening. 

"You'll come over to mine for a cuppa, right?" Graham asked as the Doctor put away the bits and pieces they'd found while making the course. "I'm sure Ryan would love to see how Oppy is coming along and I have a feeling you don't want to return to the TARDIS immediately. We've been working all day on this, we've barely had any time to talk." 

"Yeah, I'll come over," the Doctor said. "Maybe I can get Ryan to work out some kinks in Oppy's system. I'm a bit tired." She bit back a yawn and Graham made a sympathetic noise. 

Once they'd put everything away and the Doctor had wiped a bit of the fog from Oppy's sensors, they set off across the city, back to the O'Brien household. Sheffield was bustling for the night time and more than once, the Doctor hefted Oppy into her arms (to the surprise of Graham, who could only watch as she carried the robot up a set of stairs) and carried them through the town. 

Finally they reached Graham's home and were greeted with warmth the moment Graham opened the door. While the Doctor settled into the (extremely comfy) sofa and got to wiping some grit out of Oppy's casings, Graham set about making them tea. He chatted aimlessly about things that the Doctor wasn't really paying attention to (she was a terrible friend, really, ignoring him like that) and when he brought the tea over for her, she gave him her brightest grin, even as exhaustion started to settle into her bones. 

"So, you think they'll be ready for action soon?" Graham asked. 

"Yeah, once I make a few more adjustments. I really need to adjust the thrusters I added, they're a real hazard and I want to make sure we don't get into a situation where our fate doesn't rest in these thrusters that will potentially destroy Oppy." The concerned beep she got in reply from the rover made her grin sympathetically. "Don't worry, mate, I'm gonna work on them." 

"Well, if you ask me-" Graham was interrupted by a knock at the door and the Doctor looked up at it, head cocked to the side.

"Intruder alert’s going off, Graham," she said and he chuckled fondly.

"That's the doorbell, Doc," Graham said, getting up from where he'd just sat down, moving towards the door. When he opened it, he gave a noise of startled surprise as whoever was on the other side started to walk in. 

The Doctor couldn't help but smile to herself as she fiddled more with Oppy's casing, only looking up when a pair of fairly fancy shoes stopped in front of her and Oppy. 

"If you wanted to see me Kate, you could have just called," the Doctor said and when she glanced up at the blonde, pressing her lips together. "What do you need."

"Thought we'd drop by," Kate said. "After all, who wouldn't be interested in that rover you seem to have gotten your hands on."

"Oh this?" the Doctor said, motioning to Oppy with a free hand. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

**Author's Note:**

> if you want to know all the background behind this au, all of it's tagged under oppy au on my tumblr ( [@joanwolfe](https://joanwolfe.tumblr.com/) ) There's a lot of art that i've done and just random concepts so check it out if you feel so inclined.
> 
> until next time,
> 
> ~~jo


End file.
